Food banks are acting as a band-aid solution

Institutions and governments are failing people when it comes to accessing basic human needs.

UBC’s Alma Mater Society (AMS) announced university staff will no longer be welcomed at the AMS Food Bank, despite the campus community’s increased used of the service over the past year. This decision coincides with a significant reduction to UBC’s funding of their AMS Food Bank.

UBC employees who once used the AMS Food Bank will now be redirected to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

The cost of food and living is rising globally—inflation is at its highest since 2008—and Vancouver is among the most expensive Canadian cities to live in. Diverting employees and their families to the City’s food bank will exacerbate strain already experienced by City resources.

What’s more alarming than restricting access to a food bank, is the demand for one in the first place.

90 percent of staff who used the UBC AMS Food Bank relied on it to feed their families, accessing twice as many groceries as individual users. Allowing staff to frequent the food bank could therefore limit student access to a service they’re paying for.

The AMS must prioritize the well-being of students, and the AMS Food Bank is funded by student fees. Disallowing staff from the AMS Food Bank is a disappointing, yet rational, solution, which is indicative of a more significant issue at UBC.

If serving UBC staff strained their AMS Food Bank, the solution should be to increase its funding—or better yet, to address employee food insecurity, rather than pushing the problem out the door to the food bank down the street.

Inflation and the rising costs of living are burdens felt by many. Kingston is becoming a more expensive place to live, too.

Queen’s is addressing food insecurity by increasing support to the AMS Food Bank and through the establishment of PEACH (Providing Equal Access, Changing Hunger) Market, a volunteer-based, pay-what-you-can service, where students, staff, and faculty can access warm meals.

PSAC 901 (Public Service Alliance of Canada Local: Graduate student and Postdoctoral Union) recently distributed $30,000 in gift cards to graduate students and other student members to be put towards purchasing food, a fund that quickly ran out.

The UBC AMS limits the number of visits students are allowed to make to their food bank, while Queen’s AMS does not—challenges are unique and varying at each campus.

In addition to monetary donations, food banks are predominantly reliant on the donation of canned and frozen foods. Though helpful, these resources often lack the nutritional value found in fresh ingredients. Food banks must be treated as temporary supplements, rather than sustainable solutions, to food insecurity.

Universities are meant to be communities providing protection to their members. Although addressing inflation is the responsibility of governments and not universities, UBC can’t turn a blind eye to signs it’s failing to support employees’ basic human rights, like having access to food.

Food Banks must do the best they can to operate humanely, even under financial strain. Workplaces and institutions can’t rest on their laurels awaiting action from their governments.

—Journal Editorial Board

Tags

food insecurity, Inflation, University

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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